NASA mission to test powerful new navigation capability on the Moon using Earth's GNSS

An upcoming NASA mission will test a powerful new lunar navigation capability using Earth's Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) signals at the Moon for the first time.

Texas-based Firefly Aerospace will deliver NASA's Lunar GNSS Receiver Experiment (LuGRE) payload, a collaborative effort between NASA and the Italian Space Agency, on the lunar surface to investigate whether signals from two GNSS constellations can reach the lander and provide precise navigation on the Moon for future missions. The payload will hitch a ride to the Moon on the Blue Ghost lander no earlier than 2024 from Cape Canaveral, Florida, onboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.

Managed by NASA's Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN) program office, LuGRE will use signals from both GPS and Galileo to obtain the first-ever GNSS fix on the lunar surface. Data gathered from the payload will be used to further develop GNSS-based navigation systems for future lunar missions.

"LuGRE is a cutting-edge experiment, enabling us to expand Earth-based navigation systems to the Moon," said Joel Parker, Principal Investigator for LuGRE.

In the U.S., we rely on GPS to provide us with precise location and timing information. But what if we could use these Earth-based systems on the Moon?A payload managed by @NASASCaN will investigate that possibility for future missions.LEARN MORE: https://t.co/4JoH3Bwlao pic.twitter.com/Uzz4e2GNuQ

— NASA_SLS (@NASA_SLS) March 4, 2023

NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center engineers have been conducting tests on the GNSS receiver and low noise amplifier of the LuGRE payload over the past few months. The two components are crucial for LuGRE to obtain signals from GPS and Galileo satellites.

To ensure that the payload accurately receives and processes signals at the Moon, NASA engineers utilized a GNSS simulator for testing and configuration. The Goddard team has handed over the flight hardware to Firefly Aerospace in Cedar Park where it will be integrated into the Blue Ghost lander.